


Physician Heal Thyself

by zelda_addict



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, M/M, Mutual Pining, Prepare to Wait a Very Long Time for Updates, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zelda_addict/pseuds/zelda_addict
Summary: An AU spawned by a prompt from blackpaladinweek on tumblr. It starts out with a baking competition show and turns into Shiro and Lotor running a bakery together and taking forever to realize they have mutual attraction to one another and that it's okay for them to act on it. Pretty much all the main characters will make appearances eventually. This AU takes place in a universe where empires and kingdoms have been replaced by corporations and, for obvious reasons, some characters who die in canon will not be dead here. It's mostly light-hearted and awkward because that's how I roll most of the time.
Relationships: Lotor/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	1. Ready, Set, Bake

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was AU, and I had just been watching a lot of "The Great British Baking Show". 
> 
> Shiro and Keith, while not related, are essentially brothers in this. 
> 
> There are a couple of other parts already written that will be posted as I get them edited for posting here. If you just can't wait, you might be able to find them with the PHTAU tag on tumblr.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cooking competition where Shiro and Lotor meet in this AU.

“Welcome back to the Great Intergalactic Baking Show grand finale on the picturesque planet Arus. It’s lovely weather for the picnic gala, isn’t it, Lance?”

“You’ve got that right, Coran! Soon all the original contestants, family, and friends will gather here for what’s going to be some fantastic food, but before that, let’s head inside the tent for the first of our final three bakes!”

***

Shiro hadn’t even really wanted to enter the competition. Keith had entered on his behalf. He wasn’t too humble to admit that his baking was pretty good, but he just wasn’t all that competitive anymore.

He’d taken it up as a hobby after an injury in service to Galaxy Garrison had lost him an arm and earned him an early retirement. Fortunately, the intergalactic community offered excellent options for cybernetic prosthetics.

He’d even toyed with the idea of opening a small bakery, but he just wasn’t sure his offerings were good enough to bring in sufficient funds for the venture to be worthwhile. Keith had said this was the perfect opportunity to prove to himself that his baking was up to snuff and that judging from previous seasons of the show, the competition wasn’t as cutthroat as most other shows tended to be.

He was still shocked he’d made it to the finals, but apparently his grasp of the basics was impressive. What he lacked in showy designs and fanciful flavor combinations was made up for in technique and consistency.

***

“Our first finalist, Shiro, has been a contender throughout the whole competition, eh, Coran?”

“Indeed! In fact, I think his steadiness and calm has been of great help to some of the other bakers along the way.”

“Next up is Hunk, a fan favorite and super awesome dude. His bakes have never failed to please.”

“A natural talent for sure!”

“And Lotor. He’s, uh… He’s Lotor.”

“Unique indeed!”

***

Shiro was pretty sure Hunk was going to win. That kid had everything. His presentations were beautiful, his flavors–even when he went for something off the wall–were always amazing, and he had an uncanny ability to make fantastic things in the technical challenges even when there were hardly any instructions.

Besides being an amazing cook, Hunk was also a genuinely nice guy. He could be a little overly cautious and occasionally cynical, but he was kind to all the other competitors, even on the very rare occasion that he had an off day. The judges seemed to love him as much as everyone else.

***

Matt, an old roommate and current good friend of Shiro’s, and his little sister Katie “call me Pidge” worked on the technical crew for the show. All the finalists got to watch the family interview segments the night before the final as a sort of private celebration and a chance to see the clips without having to wait for the show to air, but Matt stopped by Shiro’s apartment a few days before.

“Hey, uh, remember how we all thought that maybe Lotor asked the show not to go talk to his parents because they were really busy?”

“Yeah?”

“It turns out he had this huge falling out with them. Pidge and I edited the footage as best we could, but it’s…not great.”

Shiro frowned. “Well, that’s depressing, but why are you telling me this?”

“Partly because it’s really bothering me and Pidge said she’d stab me if she had to listen to me talk about it anymore, and partly because Lotor seemed to get along with you okay. He’s gonna be blindsided by the video because I think he honestly thought the show just wouldn’t do a clip for him, even though he’s in the finale.”

Shiro sighed. “We’re not exactly _close,_ Matt. I only see him when we’re filming, just like everybody else. I don’t have any way to contact him.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

***

It wasn’t like Lotor was overtly rude to any of the other competitors or anything, he was just coolly aloof. He was terse to the camera when he was asked questions about his baking, and he didn’t like to make small talk with the other contestants.

The nicest of the others brushed it off as shyness or awkwardness, though some thought it was arrogance. Lotor’s family was fairly well-known, after all. Galra Inc. was probably the universe’s largest private security firm and arms supplier.

Given the general stereotype in the media of fiercely competitive and frequently violent Galra, many people were surprised Lotor was allowed to participate at all. There had been gambling odds on how long it would take for the pressure to make Lotor crack and have an explosive outburst.

At first, Shiro wasn’t sure what to make of the man other than the fact that his creativity level was _insane_. Sometimes his designs were overly ambitious and his flavor combinations were questionable, but he was fearless about attempting all of it.

Then the “tripping incident” happened. To be fair, and the camera footage totally corroborated it, Nyma didn’t actually _trip_ Shay, she just didn’t _warn_ her about the step stool Shay couldn’t see over the tray of cupcakes she was carrying. Everyone in the vicinity, including Nyma, to her credit, rushed to see if she was all right, except Lotor, who somehow managed to catch the tray and the majority of the cupcakes. If he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have had all the components she needed for her showstopper. Maybe he hadn’t verbally expressed concern, but he clearly had at least some sense of fairness and competitive respect, which was better than nothing.

The week after “Trip Gate”, both Shiro and Lotor found themselves incorporating potatoes into a savory component, and their peeling techniques were almost identical.

“Got assigned a lot of kitchen duty?” Shiro inquired.

Lotor grunted an assent. “I had an unfortunate tendency to challenge authority. You?”

“I actually volunteered mostly,” Shiro admitted. “I found it relaxing.”

The cameramen were currently at the other end of the tent watching Lance and Coran quiz Hunk about his signature dish, and Lotor seemed to be in an uncharacteristically playful mood. “Shall we make it a challenge to see who can finish peeling first?”

“What’s the prize?” he asked Lotor with a small grin.

“Respect?” Lotor offered with a shrug.

Shiro pretended to take offense. “You mean I don’t have that already?” Lotor snorted but managed to maintain a straight face. “How about, if I win, you have to smile– _on camera_.”

Lotor looked mildly alarmed at the suggestion before he managed to compose himself once again. “Fair enough, I suppose. If I win, you have to say something nice about yourself on camera.”

“Touché.” Shiro had a tendency to be a bit self-disparaging. He thought he’d been doing a fairly good job of reining that in during the competition, but apparently he was wrong.

Shiro won their peeling competition by a narrow margin, so Lotor obligingly greeted Lance, Coran, and the camera crew with a dazzling smile. They were momentarily speechless, but they recovered quickly.

Shiro was a bit taken aback himself. He wasn’t afraid to admit that Lotor was an attractive man, but smiling seemed to take it up another notch. Alas, as soon as the camera turned to Shiro, Lotor slipped back into the impassive mask he usually presented to everyone, and Shiro realized it was the only time he had ever seen Lotor express more than a smirk.

However, he seemed to have found a bit of the infamous competitiveness of his people. It wasn’t overly aggressive but rather surprisingly almost friendly. It became a habit for them to set themselves side challenges, and Shiro was certain he wouldn’t have enjoyed his time on the show half as much without the lighthearted rivalry. Lotor never said as much, but Shiro hoped their interactions were meaningful to him as well.

***

The night of the viewing party arrived, and Lotor was late. Shiro was beginning to wonder whether the other man even planned to attend when Lotor stormed in the door speaking angrily into a communicator.

“For the last time,” Lotor snarled to whoever was on the other end of the exchange, “I’m not dropping out of the competition. You’re being ridiculous. My competing obviously hasn’t affected your business at all because you didn’t even _know_ I was actually doing it until they came to interview you.” He paused, and Shiro could just barely make out a low voice telling Lotor something. After a few moments he let out an entirely humorless bark of laughter.

“You _can’t_ fire me; I resigned the day I first told you about the competition. You never listen to me, do you? Didn’t you notice my office has been empty for _weeks?_ Also, those muffin baskets everybody misses aren’t bought from some place only I know about–I used to bake them myself. Good luck replacing both my engineering and design skills and the snacks all your clients enjoyed so much.”

Lotor cut off the connection and stomped across the room to the employees preparing the clips for viewing. He was still bristling with anger, and one of the hapless show workers hid behind a data pad, as though that would do them any good. Lotor took a deep breath, and his cornered audience winced in anticipation of shouting.

“I imagine my father’s interview has been heavily edited?” Lotor’s voice was quiet and calm when he did speak, and dangerously so when coupled with his stormy expression. The man with the data pad shield nodded. “Do you still have the uncut footage?” Another furtive nod. “I think my father would really prefer that you air his complete interview. We wouldn’t want anybody to get the wrong idea about him being _proud_ of me, now would we?” A rapid shake of the head. “Excellent.” With that, Lotor swept back outside.

Shiro stood shocked, staring after him.

“Wow.” Shiro started at the voice directly behind him and turned to find Hunk standing there. “Here I was afraid to watch my own clip because I’m sure my family told embarrassing stories about me. Think he’s okay?”

“I wouldn’t be.” Shiro debated what to do for a few moments. “Hey, Hunk, think you could stall the viewing for a bit? I’m going to go after him.”

“Good luck!”

***

Lotor hadn’t gone very far, fortunately. Shiro found him leaning against a large rock and staring up at the stars.

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that.” Lotor broke the silence without even looking at Shiro.

“While that _was_ the most emotional I’ve ever seen you, you seemed pretty contained to me.”

“I should apologize to that crew member,” Lotor remarked casually. “It wasn’t even his fault and I think I almost gave him a heart attack.”

“Let’s head back in there, then,” Shiro suggested. “We can watch Hunk be embarrassed by a family that loves him to extremes, my brother be forced to speak full sentences to a stranger with a camera, make heckling comments over whatever your father had to say, and you can apologize. Maybe you can bake that guy one of your famous muffin baskets.” Shiro couldn’t help a tiny bit of teasing.

“ _Fine,_ ” Lotor agreed with an exaggerated disgruntled huff. “Ancients, I hope nobody _pities_ me. I hate that.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t dare.”

The clip viewing was actually fairly amusing. Hunk turned beet red several times, and his mother called him no less than twelve different pet names in Samoan. (“Ooh, what’s _that one_ mean?” “C’mon, guys… Can’t you just let it go?” “Hang on a tick, I’m looking it up right now.”) Even though they managed to get Keith to talk for a while, Shiro’s clip still contained unfortunate stretches of silence. (“Believe it or not, these are edited down from the original awkward silences.” “They’re only awkward for the interviewer. It looks like a comfortable silence for you and Keith.”) Zarkon’s interview was actually shorter than Shiro expected. He ranted for a few moments about Lotor’s participation in the competition being “a black spot in the history of the company” and a shamefully passive pastime. (“He’s obviously never kneaded bread dough.” “I know, right?”) Then he kicked the camera man out of his office. The remainder of the time was just the poor guy attempting to get absolutely anyone else in the building to talk about Lotor, including his mother, Honerva, who was so caught up in her work she actually had to be reminded that they were trying to get her to talk about her own son.

Afterward, there were refreshments, which rather shockingly did not include any baked goods. When Lotor made a joke about that being “a black mark” on the show, Shiro was pretty sure he was going to be fine.

He introduced Lotor to Matt.

“Having now seen that,” Lotor wondered, “what exactly was the edited version?”

“Honestly?” Matt scratched the back of his head and shrugged. “We had some footage of the outside of the building and just kind of made up a voiceover about the basics of the company and how your dad is the boss. It was practically a commercial.”

“Did you ever say that I worked there?” Matt shook his head. “You should air that version then. They’ll have no reason to take offense. I get to walk away from this show after tomorrow, but I imagine you all would like to keep your jobs.”

***

Right before the start of the first of their final three bakes, Shiro approached Lotor, who was setting up for what looked like his usual all-out performance. He had something he’d been wanting to ask Lotor, but he thought he’d better work up to it.

“So, who do you think will–”

“Hunk. Obviously.”

“You seem to be putting in a lot of effort if you’re so sure of that,” Shiro remarked.

“Yes, well, I’m not sure I know how to do anything but my best.”

“I can relate.” Shiro had agonized over his own signature dish planning even though his chances of winning were quite slim in his opinion.

“Did you…need something?” Lotor’s question reminded Shiro that he’d just been standing there, thinking and staring.

“You said last night that you quit your job with Galra Inc?”

Lotor frowned. “Yes. I have money saved up to last me a while, and I also told you I hate pity.”

“That’s not what this is,” Shiro insisted. This was not going very well. “How would you like to be my partner in opening up a new bakery?”

Lotor blinked. “What?”

“I’ve been thinking about doing it for years, but I never thought I could turn a profit. I mean, my baking is good, but it’s also pretty basic. I don’t really have anything to draw in customers. Well, now I have some notoriety from the show, but how long will that last? You’re really creative, and I thought we might be able to work well together. You know, if you want to try it.”

Lotor blinked some more in the wake of that verbal barrage. He started to open his mouth to reply, but Shiro was ordered to his own station to begin the show. After that, Shiro was too busy baking to beat himself up about it much.

Hunk won, and Shiro was genuinely happy for him. He’d earned it.

Lotor cautiously approached Shiro as Hunk was being mobbed by his very happy and proud family.

“I think you’d be a good partner,” he blurted. “Business partner, I mean. The bakery? We could do that.”

“Yeah?”

Lotor extended a hand and they shook on it. Shiro may not have been the big winner of the day, but he still counted the experience as a win.


	2. Location, Location, Location

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go looking for a location for the bakery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know very little about real estate, and it probably shows. This is why suspension of disbelief is our friend.
> 
> Of note, Keith has not yet met his mother in this AU. More on that later.
> 
> Lotor did more at Galra Inc. than just R&D. More on that later, too.

After the competition ended, life didn’t, so it was a couple of weeks before both Shiro and Lotor had free time to discuss their bakery project. Finally, they settled on an otherwise free Saturday and planned to meet up early and discuss looking at available properties. They had decided to establish the bakery near where Shiro was living. Lotor assured the other man that he would not mind relocating at all. In fact, he was looking forward to a fresh start, and had already found his own apartment in the area.

The night before the meetup, Shiro’s mind had been running a mile a minute, so he didn’t sleep well and was up earlier than usual. He tried to be quiet so that Keith could sleep, but it wasn’t long before the younger man came shuffling out of his room, half awake.

“Why are you up?” Keith grumbled, followed by a jaw-cracking yawn.

“Lotor and I are going to talk about locations today. You know, for the bakery? I guess I’m just…restless.”

Keith’s expression shifted by an almost unnoticeable margin, but Shiro liked to think he’d gotten pretty good at reading Keith over the years they’d known each other. Keith was excited that Shiro was finally on board with opening his own bakery, but he wasn’t too keen on Lotor. To be fair, Keith wasn’t too keen on most changes or new things. 

“You have the day off from the garage, right? You could join us, if you want.”

The offer was carefully calculated to give Keith the dual opportunity of keeping an eye on the new stranger in Shiro’s life, which Shiro knew he really wanted to do, and if Shiro was lucky, to get a little more accustomed to him. If Shiro was really honest with himself, he was also a little nervous about spending an entire day alone with Lotor. They’d almost always had other people around during their interactions before.

Keith shrugged. “Okay. When’s he stopping by?”

Shiro opened his mouth to answer and then realized that while finally settling on a day, he and Lotor had forgotten to nail down a time. “Umm…”

There was a soft knock at the door that they might not have heard without the awkward pause in the conversation, and Shiro couldn’t help thinking “speak of the devil.” It really was Lotor at the door, slouching nervously on the stoop with a cardboard drink carrier holding three cups steaming in the cool morning air in one hand and a battered paper folder under the other arm.

“Am I too early? I was already up…”

“No,” Shiro assured him, inviting the other man in with a sweeping arm gesture. “We’re awake.”

“I brought hot beverages,” Lotor mumbled, though the cups were pretty obvious.

“Shiro doesn’t drink coffee,” Keith told him. “Who’s the third one for?”

“You,” Lotor offered with a small shrug, “assuming you would be awake. Otherwise, I would drink it. Caffeine is less effective a stimulant to Galra. Shiro’s is a green tea latte.”

Shiro scooped up the cup Lotor had indicated was for him. “Thanks.” He took a sip and realized that Lotor had gotten it made with coconut milk and a little honey–just how he liked it.

Keith was still looking back and forth between his own coffee and Lotor suspiciously. Shiro cut off further anticipated interrogation by explaining, “We talked about coffee preferences, or lack of them in my case, one day on the show when we were making coffee cakes. What’d you get for Keith? A triple-shot or something?” Keith already knew that Shiro had mentioned his own Galra ancestry to Lotor.

“Quadruple. They call it ‘the Defibrillator.’ It’s black, but I have some sweetener packets, if you’d like to add some.” 

“No, this is fine. Thanks.” The last word was a little grudging, but Shiro appreciated the effort he knew it represented.

After a few more moments of silent sipping, Shiro gestured to the folder Lotor was still clutching tightly to his side. “Did you do some research for today?”

Lotor cleared his throat and his cheeks flushed. “Yes, I um, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands recently…” Shiro knew he’d quit his job at Galra Inc. before the competition, but he’d never thought about what the other man might be doing before the bakery project could really get moving. He didn’t seem like much of a “hobby” kind of guy, except of course for the obvious enjoyment of baking, but there was only so much of that one could do.

He pulled a city map from the folder and laid it out on the coffee table. It was peppered with small adhesive circles in different colors. In fact, most were carefully paired halves of two different colors.

“Based upon listings both online and in print, red are properties that do not currently have kitchen facilities, but could be altered to have them, green are currently fitted for some form of food industry, yellow are on the lower end of the cost scale, but not necessarily in highly trafficked areas, and blue have regular foot traffic, but are more expensive.”

“What’s purple?” Shiro asked. There were quite a few of those. 

“Competition.”

“Do you know which ones are leases and which are for sale?”

Lotor dipped back into the folder. “It was getting a little cluttered, so that information is on these overlays.” He produced transparent sheets with dots in black and white. “Black is for lease and white is for sale,” he explained as he carefully placed the stark circles over their more colorful counterparts.

“Wow,” Shiro remarked, “that’s…”

“Obsessive?” Keith muttered.

“ _Thorough,_ ” Shiro finished with a warning glance. “Sounds like you’ve got this pretty much covered.”

“Not entirely.” Lotor tapped the map. “When it comes to basic logistics and analysis, yes, I’m quite comfortable doing the research, but there are two things I can’t do. First, a place on paper or a screen is quite different that seeing it in person. I figure we can narrow it down some based on these factors and then go see the remaining places.”

“I agree.” Shiro nodded. “What’s the second thing?”

“The human element,” Lotor admitted with a sigh. “I very much dislike dealing with people, especially those who will inevitably be trying to sell me something. I’ve hardly looked into the associated Realtors and agents at all.”

Shiro shook his head and chuckled, and Lotor arched one brow. “Sorry. I’m not laughing at you, I promise,” Shiro hurried to reassure him. “Lucky for you, I’m more of a people person.”

Both Lotor and Keith’s eyes widened as Shiro retrieved his own folder from a desk along one wall. “I’ve been looking into ratings and reviews for different property management companies and Realtors. It shouldn’t take us long to cross reference information, and then we can make a few calls and hopefully see a few locations.”

Keith looked back and forth between the two of them. “I’m not sure the universe can handle you two working together.”

“Does that mean you don’t want to tag along?” Shiro asked playfully.

“Oh, I’m going with you,” Keith insisted. 

He left briefly for a morning run while Shiro and Lotor compared notes and made some calls. Well, _Shiro_ made a few calls. Lotor would occasionally offer a whispered question for him to relay to the person on the other end of the call, but he declined to participate otherwise.

“It’s better this way, believe me,” he declared. “My social interaction skills are limited to three things: avoiding people, which defeats the purpose entirely, saying whatever I think they want to hear, which could end badly where property is involved, and manipulating situations, which I’ve been trying very hard _not_ to do after cutting ties with my family. Besides, I don’t have enough information on any of these places to do it effectively, yet.”

“That’s what the calls are for,” Shiro pointed out. “You ask questions to get more information.”

“I’ve been told I don’t know how to ask things politely, and I make everything sound like an interrogation.”

Shiro let it go because he really didn’t mind doing this portion of the work, and Lotor had obviously spent a great deal of time collecting and organizing other information. 

By the time Keith returned from his run and took a quick shower, they had a short list of five places to visit first. One location oddly wasn’t connected to any of Shiro’s research but seemed very promising.

Several of the locations were in areas with limited parking options, so Lotor offered to drive them. Keith declined, preferring to take his own bike.

“Don’t take it personally,” Shiro told Lotor as he climbed into the passenger seat. “He doesn’t even like it when I drive. I think he likes both the combination of being in control and the open air.” Lotor just shrugged it off and headed toward downtown. He was a very cautious driver. Very.

“If you’re worried that Keith needs to follow you, he does have the address of the first place.”

“Hm?” Lotor shot him a puzzled glance. “He passed us some time ago.”

“Well, you _are_ driving awfully slow.”

“It’s this ground traffic.” Lotor huffed. “It’s so claustrophobic, and movement options are ridiculously limited! Get me out in open space, and I assure you, things would be very different.”

“There’s nothing quite like flying in space,” Shiro readily agreed.

When they finally pulled up in front of the first place on their list, both Keith and the location’s realtor were waiting for them.

“Did you get lost?” Keith asked.

“No,” Lotor answered simply, and Shiro decided not to add any comment.

The first location had formerly been a small cafe styled like an old diner. The kitchen space would need to be totally renovated if it were to become a bakery, as it had two large grill tops, but only one small oven that had definitely seen better days. It was for rent, so any changes would have to be approved by the property owner. Shiro also couldn’t help but notice that it was midmorning on a weekend, and he’d seen hardly any foot traffic outside the large windows along the front of the building. It had looked much more appealing on paper.

The second location was equally unmemorable, though Shiro had talked Lotor into letting him drive there.

At the third location, Shiro finally got a taste of what Lotor had meant about all his questions sounding like interrogations. In this case, however, Shiro felt it was kind of justified.

It wasn’t like Shiro hadn’t expected a few of the property agencies to exaggerate or fudge a few small things. After all, this was business, and they were in it to make a profit like anyone else would be. This, however, was not just a little gilding of the lily.

It was immediately obvious that the published pictures of the storefront were not current. In the listing, there was a lovely, glass entry door. In person, there was a piece of plywood chained into the frame with a large padlock and decorated with some rather risqué graffiti. This was also the location without a pre-researched contact.

The last time Shiro had seen Lotor get angry there had been no yelling. Instead, the other man went intensely quiet, and Shiro could see that Lotor’s expression had gone completely blank.

“Tell me,” he asked in an icy tone, “don’t you think this is something that should have been mentioned in the listing?”

The property manager blinked, but her wide smile didn’t waver. “Ah, yes. This is unfortunate, but it happened only recently-”

“How recently?” Lotor interrupted. “The listing I looked at was posted only a few days ago.”

“There is an allowance included to replace the door,” the woman continued, skirting the question. “This is a great neighborhood. There’s-”

“How great a neighborhood can it be if it’s prone to property damage and vandalism?” Lotor cut into her presentation again.

“Well, just look at the other-”

“Is there something you’re not disclosing about this particular site?” He took a step forward and she took one back. “The interior description was rather vague. Should we expect it to be in a similar state to the door? How long has this property actually been vacant? Was the information provided intentionally scant because of some kind of past incident?” Lotor was leaving very little time between questions for the woman to respond, and she was beginning to look increasingly alarmed.

“Should one of us step in?” Keith asked quietly from beside him. “She looks like she’s about ready to call the police or something.” He wasn’t wrong.

Shiro gently placed a hand on one of Lotor’s shoulders and he tensed, head whipping around to turn his piercing gaze on Shiro. His expression softened and then became quizzical.

“You think maybe you should ease up a bit? I see what you meant about coming across badly when you ask questions.”

Lotor’s eyebrows shot up and he turned back to the property manager, seeming to see for the first time how she was cowering away from him. He looked lost and a little hurt, but Shiro figured damage control took priority at the moment.

Shiro walked over to the rattled woman hands out in a placating gesture “I’m sorry about that. He’s just a bit…” he trailed off, searching for exactly the right word.

“Galra?” she suggested with a scowl.

Shiro frowned back. “I was going to go with ‘overly assertive’, actually.” He took a calming breath and made another attempt at diplomacy. “You can understand why this was an unpleasant surprise, can’t you? I’d like to think you have an explanation for all of this, and I’m willing to listen.”

This was turning into some kind of absurd property good cop, bad cop. He could see it all in his mind…

_“Help me help you, ma’am,” he would say, expression concerned. “This kind of thing really upsets my business partner. I don’t know what he might do.”_

_“I ought to report this to the Intergalactic Business Bureau,” Lotor would mutter ominously behind him while glaring at the woman, “and I’m leaving a truly nasty review on Yowl.”_

_“Just tell me what we want to know. What’s really up with this place? Save yourself a lot of trouble.”_

The woman’s fearful expression relaxed, and for just a moment, Shiro saw her analyzing the situation shrewdly before her expression turned neutral. “Well, I suppose that makes sense.” She must really, _really_ want to move this property.

“I would like to apologize.” Lotor’s voice cut into their conversation at that point. It was the exact opposite of his tone from before. It was soothing and absolutely nonthreatening. “Clearly, I overreacted badly. I’m moving on from a life where corruption and deceit were commonplace. To believe I was seeing the same in the life I’m trying to start over was… _deeply_ upsetting, but I had no right to take it out on you. If you’re still willing, I would love to see inside the building.”

If you looked up “contrition” in the dictionary, Lotor’s face could be the picture next to it. In fact, it was so perfectly sorry, Shiro’s mind instinctively distrusted the intent, but the property manager seemed to accept it.

She finally had a chance to formally introduce herself as Karen, which Shiro already knew from their brief phone conversation, and explain that she was a lawyer and didn’t usually do this kind of work, but had been managing the property for her brother, who had recently decided to sell. He and his wife had tried to start a restaurant together, but neither the business nor the marriage worked out. After it sat empty for months, they decided to sell the restaurant and split the take. Also, the door hadn’t been broken–the wife had had it made special and decided she was taking it with her.

Inside the building things were actually in pretty decent shape, though neither Shiro nor Lotor were particularly pleased with some of the decorating decisions. Those could be redone, however. There was a very nice, large oven in the kitchen they were told had been primarily used for dinner rolls and desserts. The property was also priced to move quickly. It would be more expensive than leasing initially, but both quite liked the idea of not having to answer to a landlord or property manager.

They decided to take a break for lunch after sending Karen on her way, but it was the middle of lunch rush on a Saturday, and they were having trouble finding a table anywhere.

“My apartment isn’t that far, if you’d like to grab something and eat there,” Lotor offered. Shiro and Keith both agreed, and Shiro suspected curiosity played a large factor in the decision.

The apartment really was quite close, and it was only a few minutes before they pulled into a parking lot beside a modest building. Shiro hadn’t necessarily been expecting anything extravagant, but he was fairly certain Lotor could afford an apartment a good deal larger and nicer than the small studio to which he escorted them. Lotor was clearly still in the process of unpacking, and the majority of the boxes still stacked against one wall appeared to be labelled “books.”

There was no formal dining space, so they crowded around a coffee table in the living area. Even though the seating looked comfortable, the table was low enough that it was easier to sit on the floor. For a few minutes, they were all focused on eating; wandering all over town to look at potential bakery sites was hungry work.

Eventually, Keith broke the comfortable silence by asking, “So, have you two thought of a name for the bakery, yet?”

Lotor and Shiro looked at each other. “Well, no,” Shiro admitted.

“We thought that was a step that could wait for a little while,” Lotor added.

Keith shrugged. “Okay. Just so long as it’s not some horrible pun.” He leveled a playful glare at his brother. “I don’t believe for a minute that you haven’t thought of like a dozen really awful ones.”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Shiro replied, all obviously false innocence. “I would never even think about naming a legitimate business something like ‘Bake It Or Leave It’.”

Keith groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Or ‘Flour Power’. Definitely not anything like ‘Crumb and Get It’.”

“ _Stop!_ Please!”

“Or,” Lotor interjected, face completely deadpan, “we could make it a really pretentious bakery and call it ‘The Upper Crust’.”

Both Keith and Shiro stared at him shocked silence for a few moments before Shiro burst into a fit of laughter so strong he choked on the bite of food he had taken right before the unexpected joke.

Lotor’s eyes went wide and he apologized profusely. He hands fluttered between hovering uselessly in front of him and reaching toward Shiro as if to help but unsure how and back. Once he had enough air, Shiro assured him that he was fine. They locked eyes for a moment, and then both were laughing.

Keith watched them. They seemed genuinely happy, and there was warmth in their expressions. He might not be totally sold on the idea of Lotor working with Shiro yet, but there was no denying they had a connection. Suddenly, the tiny apartment seemed extra crowded.

“I don’t think I’m going to join you to look at the two places left on the list,” Keith announced. Like he had flipped some kind of switch, both of the other men’s demeanors changed from content to nervous.

“Why?” Shiro asked. “Is something wrong?”

“We’ll stop making puns,” Lotor added. “I promise.”

“I’ve just got a couple of things I need to do,” Keith hurried to explain. He had no idea why they suddenly seemed so uncomfortable with the idea of being left alone when they were getting along just fine seconds ago. He hadn’t even been meant to accompany them in the first place! 

Keith was reminded of when he had applied for his current job at the garage. It hadn’t sounded like an interview would be required, so he had been a little nervous when the owner had called to arrange one. Keith didn’t hate people–well, not _all_ of them–but he wasn’t great at interacting with strangers, and he hated small talk. He knew he came across as abrupt and unfriendly to many. Shiro had talked him down and accompanied him to the interview, waiting outside the office until he had finished, and that had only been one of many times Shiro provided unwavering support. What would it really hurt to return the favor in a small way?

Also, Keith realized, if he were to leave now, Lotor would think it was because of him. He still wasn’t anywhere near one of Keith’s favorite people, and he wasn’t sure how much they should trust him, but if nothing else, Keith was certain he intended Shiro no harm.

“It’s not urgent,” he said and watched the other two men visibly sag in relief. “I guess it can wait until after we see the other locations.”

The fourth option was also for sale fairly inexpensively and had once been a bakery, but it was a foreclosed property, and the previous owners had stripped everything they could realistically carry away and even a few that seemed decidedly unrealistic.

“Wow…” Shiro let out a low whistle as he stared at the void where a large oven had once been situated. “They must have really liked that oven.” It had to have been terribly heavy and getting it through the doorway must have been challenging to say the least.

Lotor wrinkled his nose at the state of the floor that had been underneath the former appliance. “They apparently couldn’t be bothered to clean up after themselves though, hm?”

The property might be affordable, but they would have to invest a great deal into making it workable again–maybe even more than at some of the locations they had already seen.

They never even got to see the inside of the last location on their list–it had just been leased before they got there.

Since they had eaten at Lotor’s place for lunch, Shiro invited him to eat dinner with him and Keith so they could discuss the four locations they’d seen that day. They ended up ordering pizza.

“Honestly,” Lotor admitted with a sigh, “I’m leaning toward that for sale property, as much as I’d rather not have to deal with Karen.”

“Is it the sketchy business practices or the xenophobia?” Shiro asked, only half joking.

“A little of both, really. I can’t imagine it would be terribly pleasant, and it’s at least partly my own fault.”

Shiro shrugged. “We won’t really know unless we give it a shot. We can always expand our short list and keep looking.”

“It really was a decent location,” Lotor argued. “I’m not certain how long it will remain on the market. We may only get one shot at it.”

“We don’t want to rush into a decision, though.” Karen had made it sound like the owners wanted to sell fast, but she may have been exaggerating to put them under an increased sense of pressure. Then again, they _had_ missed out on the fifth place on that day’s list. “What do you say we sleep on it and see how we feel about it tomorrow?”

The next day, both agreed that they would make an offer on what they had started calling the “Open Door Property.” Lotor vowed to be on his best behavior, though Shiro thought he rather preferred intensely disapproving Lotor to the diplomatic but rather insincere mask he wore while “behaving.”

“You know I don’t really care if you’re perfectly polite to Karen, right?” Shiro asked. “I mean, you shouldn’t be intentionally rude or anything, but I don’t expect you to be a model citizen at all times. Just be yourself.”

Lotor arched an eyebrow but did not comment.

This time, they met Karen at her office. They had scarcely exchanged pleasantries before she informed them that she had already received an offer of the listing price.

Shiro and Lotor both knew that the property was priced on the lower end of the pricing scale for the area of town where it was located, so this was not entirely surprising. They made a higher offer and left with the uneasy knowledge that it was now a game of waiting and wills.

Unfortunately, it dragged on for several days. Every offer was countered, and the price crept upward. Eventually, they reached a point where they weren’t certain they wanted to go much higher, but the thought of losing the location after all that trouble was also unappealing. 

They discussed it and settled on a maximum price they were willing to pay. It came as quite a shock when Karen called to tell them that the other interested party had just offered the _exact same number._

Shiro’s shoulders slumped. This was it. They were going to have to start the process all over again. It was probably just the bitterness talking, but he thought Karen seemed pretty pleased at their disappointment, smiling from her end of the video call.

“What if,” Lotor suddenly said, startling Shiro a little, “we could match that offer but make a generous downpayment in cash?”

Karen’s eyes glittered, and Shiro was certain she wanted to ask _how_ generous but refrained. “Could you _do_ that?” she asked.

Shiro turned so his face was not visible and mouthed, “Could we _really?_ ”

“We could,” Lotor affirmed, cool as a cucumber. “However, that will require a trip to the bank, which cannot be done until tomorrow, and such a large withdrawal will require some paperwork. I would prefer not to go through all that trouble unless we have some assurance that this would close the deal.”

“Let me see whether the other party is willing to raise their offer, and I’ll get right back to you.” Karen’s face disappeared, and they were left to wait again.

“So, cash, huh?” On some level, Shiro had always known that Lotor was wealthy, but he hadn’t ever really made it obvious.

“In my experience, it is generally difficult to resist.” He said it so matter-of-factly that Shiro was extremely curious about those experiences, but before he had time to ask, Karen called back.

“If you can have your cash downpayment to me by five o’clock in the evening tomorrow, it’s yours,” Karen told them. She seemed somewhat skeptical that it would be possible.

“Five o’clock,” Lotor acknowledged, and Karen terminated the call.

Shiro went with Lotor to the bank the next day. “I’ve never seen a large amount of cash in person before. I’m curious.” He then added, “Besides, it feels wrong for someone to be walking around with that much money alone.”

“How would anyone know?” Lotor asked with a smile and a roll of his eyes. “I won’t be carrying it out in the open.”

“Briefcase? Duffle bag?”

Lotor laughed. “I believe you watch too many movies. It won’t be in small bills and really won’t take up that much space.” He gestured to a small, leather messenger bag he had slung over one shoulder.

“Sliding a briefcase across the table would look more impressive.”

“Do you own one? No? Well, neither do I.”

Shiro wasn’t sure why he expected the bank to be some grand, old building–probably the movies again–but he had to admit he felt more comfortable in the one they actually went to for the money. The fact that there were only three tellers meant they had to wait for a while, but there was a bowl of hard candies.

“I need to speak to Mr. Hargrave, please,” Lotor told the smiling woman behind the counter and then they went back to the candy dish.

Shiro was just explaining to Lotor how he really didn’t know whether root beer was available in barrels like the candies anymore when the door to a side office opened and a small, nervous man appeared.

“Ah, Mr. Hargrave. How are you?” Lotor greeted him politely. “I’ve come in today to-”

“Is this about the automatic transfer incident?” Hargrave interrupted, wringing his hands in front of himself. “It is, isn’t it? I know I should have contacted you immediately, but it turned out to be a false alarm, and-”

“What incident?” Lotor cut the other man off in turn.

“It was merely a computer system error. The transfer went through as expected, and the message only appeared briefly, so I had hoped you might not have noticed,” the banker confessed. “But, if that’s not why you’re here?”

“No,” Lotor told him, “but I would like to discuss this further. Perhaps in your office?”

Shiro found himself forgotten in the main lobby in the wake of this mysterious money issue. What Lotor did with his money was really none of Shiro’s business, even if he _was_ curious. He distracted himself reading pamphlets about loans, lines of credit, and similar financial topics he discovered near the candy dish. He was in the middle of “Do You Know If You Have Saved Enough for Retirement?” when he heard the office door open again.

“I’ll arrange for your withdrawal to be transferred from the main branch,” Hargrave was saying. “I’m afraid we don’t have that amount in cash on hand today. Would you like to wait here, or have me give you a call when it arrives?”

Shiro must have looked dismayed at the idea of hanging around in the bank lobby much longer because Lotor quickly asked, “How long do you think it will take?”

“An armored transport makes the rounds from branch to branch every few hours. They should be by within the hour.”

Lotor requested to be called and they walked to a café down the street to wait.

“So,” Shiro attempted to ask casually, “is everything really okay with that transfer Hargrave was talking about?”

“Yes.” Lotor answered simply, expression revealing nothing. Oh well, it was worth a shot!

“Exactly how big a downpayment are we making?” Shiro changed the subject. “I mean, if they didn’t have it on hand, it must be a fairly large sum.”

“It’s about half of the cost of the property.”

Shiro almost spat out a mouthful of tea. “Half of the _total_ cost?” he repeated, somewhat stunned.

“I thought that might keep dear Karen from trying to change her mind. Why? Do you think it should be more?”

At first, Shiro thought he was being sarcastic, but Lotor appeared sincere. “That should be plenty,” he finally replied. He wasn’t certain he’d ever had that much money in his own bank account all at once. “Are you sure you want to spend so much right away? I feel like I’m barely contributing.”

“You will going forward,” Lotor reassured him. “It’s an investment. I’m certain we’ll earn it back and more besides.”

A short time later, Hargrave called, and they returned to the bank. Shiro felt vaguely like he was a part of some kind of heist as he watched the banker place neatly bundled stacks of bills into Lotor’s satchel. They also both signed papers for a loan on the remaining property value.

Shiro insisted on driving on the way to Karen’s office because the money made him feel like they had a target painted on them and he wanted to get there faster than he knew Lotor would drive.

Karen’s eyes widened fractionally as she was handed the money, and Shiro was relieved that he wasn’t the only one unused to dealing with this kind of situation. There followed a great deal more paperwork, and then the key was rather anticlimactically slid across the desk to them. The deed would be sent later.

“Congratulations,” Karen told them, “it’s all yours.”

The sun had already set by the time they exited Karen’s office. They should probably just go home, but…

“Hey,” Shiro asked, nudging Lotor’s arm, “wanna go by the bakery?”

Lotor grinned. “ _Yes! _”__

__They realized after they got to the building that there was currently no power. They went in anyway._ _

__“In the dark this place is kind of…”_ _

__“Creepy?”_ _

__With only light from the streetlamps outside for illumination, the dinginess and disrepair the property had fallen into was starkly highlighted, but it was _theirs_ now, and that counted for something._ _

__“Well, step one down,” Shiro declared. “We have our location. You know what step two is, right?”_ _

__“Buy a new door?” Lotor asked cheekily._ _

__Shiro snorted. “I guess that’s _part_ of step two: get this place ready for business.”_ _

__“It’s going to be a lot of work.”_ _

__Shiro grunted in agreement. “Yeah, but that’s one of the things friends are good for.”_ _


	3. Operation: Operational

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Lotor have some friends over to help get the bakery ready for opening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular chapter hints a little at Hunk/Shay. I think they're cute. Nothing actually happens and I'm not sure yet whether or not it will later, either. Just so you know.
> 
> The bakery name is a pretty awful pun. No one should be very surprised.

It was kind of like a reunion of the baking show where they’d met, except Shiro and Lotor both refused to have it recorded for broadcast. Initially, they had only invited a few of the others they had met during filming, but then those few told a few others, and suddenly, they had a larger work crew than they had ever anticipated.

There were some things, like rewiring and appliance installation in the kitchen and some minor carpentry repairs, that they would have to hire professionals to complete, but there was a lot of general cleaning and wall space that needed repainting.

“This flooring is hideous,” Nyma informed them with her usual bluntness. 

“We know,” Shiro agreed, “but that’s something we’ll have to work on replacing later. It’ll be expensive and require us to be shut down for a while, so we want to bring in some profits first.”

In fact, Lotor had offered to purchase new flooring, but Shiro still wasn’t quite comfortable with the amount of money the other man had already put into the project. 

“At least you’re painting over this awful wall color.”

The walls were a burnt orange that wasn’t really all that awful, but Shiro and Lotor both preferred a lighter palette that brightened up the space and made it feel more open. Unfortunately, it was taking an awful lot of coats to eliminate the orange.

Coran twirled one end of his mustache, not noticing he’d gotten some paint in it. “Oh, I don’t know. I find it interesting.” He’d also been fascinated by both the paint and the paint rollers. Shiro hadn’t bothered asking how Alteans did these sorts of things.

All of the non-Earthlings had needed a crash course in painting. Shiro was grateful they had a fairly large human turnout, or it might have been a little overwhelming!

Lotor was currently staring at one wall, head cocked to the side.

“How long does the paint need to dry between coats, again?”

“Lunch break!” Hunk declared, there was a general murmur of agreement, and all eyes turned to their hosts.

“Why is everyone staring at us?” Lotor asked quietly.

“It’s totally human tradition to provide people who help you move and redecorate and stuff with food,” Lance informed him before Shiro had a chance.

“Is that true?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s the tradition of _all_ humans, but yes,” Shiro agreed, “it’s a common practice.”

Lotor shrugged. “Very well, I guess I’ll go pick up some food. Would anyone care to assist?” Hunk and Coran volunteered, and Shay also stepped forward and raised a hand timidly.

“Are you certain you want all the walls in one solid color? I know it’s your bakery, so the final decision is yours, but perhaps we could paint a mural on one wall?”

Lotor and Shiro looked at one another, and Lotor shrugged again. “I don’t see why not,” Shiro told her.

“Why don’t you come with us,” Lotor offered, “and we’ll stop by the hardware store for some more paint colors on our way to get food, and we can discuss what it will look like? We can message Shiro for final approval.”

Shay smiled and followed the other three out the new front door.

“Is it just me,” Lance asked after they were gone, “or does Lotor seem a lot friendlier than he was on the show?” There were several murmurs of agreement.

“I wouldn’t say he was _unfriendly_ before,” Shiro said. “It just takes a little effort to get him to interact.”

“No, I think he’s different. You must be a good influence.”

Shiro shrugged off the comment and began mentally plotting out where furniture would go in the main seating area.

“Shiro’s different, too,” Matt remarked. “A little more confident. I like it. It’s more like I remember him from the Academy.”

Shiro chose not to respond to that, either, but it made him wonder. Was that true? He often looked back at his younger self as rather more irresponsibly confident than reasonably so. He’d certainly done some reckless things that made him cringe now.

Was any of it due to Lotor’s presence? His experiences with the Garrison had certainly opened his eyes to very real consequences of not thinking things through. Perhaps after losing his arm he _had_ swung the other way and become overly cautious and afraid to take any sort of leap of faith. It was certainly true that he felt more comfortable approaching this new business venture with a partner instead of alone.

Although, it wasn’t as though Lotor exuded confidence, either. He was competent in many things, and he certainly stuck to his guns once he’d made a decision, but Shiro was certain Lotor would not have considered opening a bakery on his own if Shiro had not suggested it.

Wasn’t that how partnerships were supposed to be? Two people that could do more together than either could on their own?

He was pulled out of his musings when his phone rang. He answered the video call to reveal Lotor’s concerned face.

“Is something wrong?”

“Not necessarily,” Lotor answered cryptically.

“What’s up?”

“Well, Shay and I were talking about the mural, and I suggested putting it in the reading corner you and I discussed.”

Lotor and Shiro both appreciated a good book, and they decided it would be nice to put a few comfy chairs and some bookcases in one corner.

“That sounds great,” Shiro said. He wasn’t sure where this got problematic. “Are you having trouble coming up with a theme?”

“She liked the idea of a reading corner, but also suggested a children’s corner, and that a bright mural there would be fitting.”

Shiro contemplated this for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, I would be fine with that. Would it bother you?”

Lotor sighed. “I guess I realized on some level that a percentage of the clientele would have offspring, it’s just-”

“Ohmigosh!” Lance hooted from behind Shiro. “Lotor’s afraid of kids!”

“I am _not_ afraid of children,” Lotor protested indignantly. “I am merely wary because I have very little experience in dealing with them. Ancients’ sake, I barely spent any time with them when I _was_ one!”

Shiro had honestly forgotten they weren’t having this conversation in private, and he felt a bit of secondhand embarrassment for Lotor. “We really don’t have to set aside a space for kids specifically, if it makes you uncomfortable, and if we do, you wouldn’t have to go out of your way to interact with them.”

“That’s what Shay said. I suppose I have no serious objections if that plan is acceptable to you.” He still didn’t seem too happy about it, but Lotor wasn’t going to make a big deal of it, so Shiro supposed it couldn’t be that upsetting of an idea to him. “Given that the mural would be themed for the children, the question is: do we want it to be bakery or story themed?”

Shiro thought about it for a few moments. “I think kids might enjoy story references more than pictures of baked goods. Did you have any particular stories in mind?”

“Since the majority of our customers are likely to be human, I was hoping you would have some suggestions.”

Shiro’s mind went suddenly and unhelpfully blank. “Um…”

“I’ve got this,” Hunk’s voice assured from somewhere on Lotor’s end of the conversation. “We can even make it a combination of baked goods _and_ stories.”

“Truly?” Lotor asked. “Are baked goods a frequent subject of children’s stories on Earth?”

“You’d be surprised,” Hunk replied, and then Lotor ended the call with assurances that he would keep Shiro updated.

When they returned with a variety of sandwiches for lunch, Shiro asked about Hunk’s suggestions.

“Why,” Lotor asked drily, “didn’t I know there was such a prevalence of violence and cannibalism in human children’s literature?”

Shiro blinked and had to process that for a moment. “‘Hansel and Gretel’, I’m guessing?”

“And ‘The Gingerbread Man.’”

“I keep telling you,” Hunk argued with a sigh, “that one’s not really cannibalism. He’s a cookie.”

“A _sentient_ cookie, shaped like a small person.”

“Does this mean we still don’t have any mural plans?”

Lotor shrugged. “I have no issue with using these stories, I was just surprised by the content, given how judgmental many humans are about Galra culture.”

“We _are_ pretty good at hypocrisy,” Shiro agreed. “So, is it just those two, or…?”

“There are so many options! I think we’re actually going to have to narrow it down a little.” Hunk began listing stories and counting them off on his fingers. “There’s ‘A Song of Sixpence’, ‘Little Jack Horner’, ‘The Muffin Man’-”

“Ooh!” Lance interjected. “You could put Lotor’s face on him.”

“No,” Lotor disagreed firmly.

Hunk’s face lit up at the suggestion. “Aw, come on! It’s totally fitting. We could put Shiro on a character, too.”

“What?”

“ _No._ ”

They finished the main wall painting after another meal and a late night. 

The mural, however, was clearly going to require more planning and time than just flat coats of a single color. Shay spent most of that first evening sketching out several drafts on paper. Over the next several weeks, as she had time to stop by, Shiro and Lotor picked a final design and helped sketch it out on the wall and with some of the less detailed painting in between setting up the rest of the bakery. Several of the others dropped by on occasion to help as well, Hunk especially.

As the artwork approached completion, Shay focussed on the finer details herself. If two of the characters bore some resemblance to the bakery owners and some others were familiar as well, it was at least subtle. Any additional helpers found themselves shooed away from the mural to assist Shiro and Lotor instead.

On this particular occasion, Hunk was helping Shiro arrange tables and chairs while Lotor assembled a storage rack and stocked shelves in the kitchen. It didn’t escape Shiro’s notice that Hunk almost spent more time watching Shay painting than paying attention to the seating arrangements. The older man didn’t say anything, though. If Hunk wanted to talk about it, he would.

Sure enough, while they were catching their breath after hauling in an especially heavy table, Hunk asked, “How do you know when a friend is more than just a friend?”

“I’m not sure there’s any one answer to that for every situation,” Shiro admitted after giving it a little thought. “The fact that you’re asking yourself the question is kind of an indication that the dynamic has changed, but not necessarily how much.”

Hunk arched an eyebrow. “That’s not a very decisive answer.”

Shiro shrugged helplessly. “I’m pretty sure you’re a better interpreter of what you’re feeling than I am.”

“I guess…” After a few moments Hunk let out a little scoff. “Kind of silly of me to come to you with that kind of a question, huh?”

What kind of reaction was _that?_ Shiro took a deep breath and resolved not to be offended. Hunk wasn’t the kind of person who was deliberately mean unless you’d done something to truly get on his bad side, which was pretty difficult to do.

“Because I’m not currently in a relationship?” Shiro asked. It wasn’t like he’d _never_ had a partner, but it had definitely been a while. 

Hunk gave him a long, blank look. “Sure,” he finally responded. “We’ll go with that.”

There was an awkwardly lengthy pause. “I’m going to go check on Lotor,” Shiro announced and left the main room at a speed he hoped didn’t look like a retreat.

He must not have put quite as much thought into schooling his expression because Lotor took one look at him and asked if something was wrong.

“Would you trust me to answer questions about relationships?” Not exactly an explanation, but he blurted the question before he could stop himself.

“More than I trust myself in such a situation. Why?”

“Somebody told me they thought I was a bad choice for it after I apparently answered a question badly.”

“Hunk?” Lotor asked. Shiro’s jaw dropped and Lotor laughed. “It’s a simple enough thing to figure out from the available information. It likely just happened, and the only others here to my knowledge are Hunk and Shay. I may not pick up on emotional cues very well, but even I can see how he looks at her when he thinks no one can see.” 

Shiro smiled back. He felt a lot calmer suddenly. Whether it was putting distance between himself and Hunk or Lotor’s soothing presence, he couldn’t say. “Well, when you explain it like that it does seem obvious.”

“If it’s not going to upset you again, may I ask what he wanted to know?”

“You mean you haven’t already figured that out, too?” Shiro couldn’t help throwing in a little teasing. Lotor just seemed to bring that out in him. “He wanted to know how to tell when a friend was more than just a friend.”

Lotor shrugged. “I would have been of absolutely no help with that one.”

“Not a lot of experience with changing friendship dynamics?”

“Not a lot of experience with friends at all.”

That was a depressing thought. Shiro quickly steered the conversation back from that particular emotional minefield. “At any rate, I told him that asking the question meant the situation had probably changed in some way already, but I couldn’t tell him in what way. He told me that wasn’t helpful and then said he felt silly for asking that kind of question to me.”

“Because you’re not currently involved with anyone?”

“That’s what I thought!” Shiro felt a small amount of vindication that Lotor had assumed the same conclusion, but Lotor had also said he wasn’t great at interpreting emotional things, so maybe he shouldn’t bank too much on that shared perception. “He didn’t act like that was it, though.”

Lotor frowned as he considered the situation further. “Maybe he believes you’re in a similar situation? An ambiguous relationship you haven’t quite defined?”

They stared at each other until it began to feel awkward. Lotor broke first. “I don’t mean to imply that it’s true, it just seems a likely explanation.”

“No, it’s fine,” Shiro assured him. “That does make sense, now that I think about it.” Only, now he didn’t _want_ to think about it. Then he remembered why he’d told Hunk he was coming back here in the first place. The upright pieces of the shelving unit had been assembled and the plastic stops for the bottom shelf had been snapped into place, but the shelves themselves were simply laid out on the floor.

“Do you need some help?”

“Yes,” Lotor readily agreed. “I think I’ll be able to manage after the first one or two shelves are in place, but I can’t seem to manage arranging the first one with only two arms.”

Shiro helped him get the first shelf over all four legs in an amiable silence.

“I think they’re different,” Lotor suddenly declared, seemingly out of nowhere.

“The…shelves?”

Lotor frowned at him, puzzled. “No. Friendly and romantic feelings. After all, those feelings don’t just disappear when you begin to feel more for another, do they? Someone becomes your friend because you feel an affinity with them for whatever reason, and I would expect you would continue to feel those things. I don’t think it’s so much a change of feelings as the addition or perhaps expansion of them. At least, I’d like to think it’s not a zero sum, either/or situation.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Maybe Hunk really should have asked you.”

Lotor brushed off the compliment, but Shiro thought he seemed just a little pleased by it. “My answer isn’t particularly helpful to his case, either. The truth is that he’ll have to work it out on his own.”

“Yeah. I should get back out there.”

Shiro walked back out into the dining area where he was immediately met by an apologetic Hunk.

“I’m so sorry! I’ve been sitting here thinking about how badly that comment came out. You give lots of good advice, really!”

“It’s fine,” Shiro assured him. “You were just frustrated with the situation and not being able to figure it out. I get it.” It was at that point that Shiro realized Shay was no longer in the bakery. 

“Where’s Shay? Did something happen?”

“No,” Hunk explained, “it’s just getting late, and she promised her grandma they could do some cooking together this evening.”

“Did you two, you know, _talk?_ ”

“Not yet.” Hunk shrugged. “I like being Shay’s friend. I’m fine being just that for now. There’s no reason to risk making things weird if I’m not even really sure what I’m feeling. Thanks for listening, though.”

“Yeah, no problem. I’m always happy to listen.”

“Same goes for you. You know that, right? If you ever want to talk, I’m happy to listen, too.”

“Thanks.”

They arranged the last table, and Hunk left for the evening as well.

A short time later, Lotor joined Shiro in enjoying the view of the almost completed dining area in the light of the setting sun.

“So,” Shiro asked after a while, “are you ready for this place to open?”

Lotor shrugged. “Yes and no. It will finally be the payoff for a lot of hard work and planning, but up until the point the doors open for business, it almost doesn’t seem real, just a beautiful dream I’ve built up in my mind. I hope it will go well, but I’m a little afraid of the possibility that it might not.”

“I know what you mean.” He wasn’t sure what he’d do with himself any more if the bakery went under. When it had been just a hypothetical fantasy, it was easy enough to tell himself it just couldn’t happen, but now he’d had a taste of what it could be like, and he really didn’t want to lose it. Lotor would probably leave to who knew where, and honestly, Shiro didn’t much like the idea of Lotor disappearing from his life, either. 

“Thanks,” he said, breaking the comfortable silence. 

“For what?”

“For agreeing to do this with me. For everything you’ve put into this already. For being you.”

Lotor gave him a puzzled frown. “Being me? I’m not sure that’s one for which you should be thankful.”

“Believe it or not, being around you when you’re calm relaxes me, too.”

Lotor laughed. “That’s just… What was that delightful earth saying I learned the other day? The _swan_ analogy.” When Shiro raised an eyebrow he explained. “Everything looks serene on the surface, but under the water, it’s all chaos.”

“Guess we’re a couple of swans, then.”

When Keith found out they’d decided on “Swan Bake” as a name, he predictably rolled his eyes, but Shiro and Lotor both liked it.


End file.
